The wardens
by TWilkins
Summary: Four recruits in place of one. How will the new members of the grey wardens effect the outcome of the war? Vayne-the mage who swore revenge against the blood mage Jowan. Ashe and Elliot- the twins who swore revenge against the Howe's. And Irria- the Dalish elf who swore revenge against the world. Basic storyline following but with some key changes. 1st person.


******Hey.**

**First thing i am going to say is that this story is that it is review dependent. If i don't get enough reviews, i won't continue it. **

**Secondly, some elements of this story are different to the actual plotline and some things happen which would greatly change the events of Dragon age Awakening, and dragon age two. **

**Thirdly, this story my push up to an M rating if i cannot keep my gore to myself.**

**Fourthly, enjoy. **

* * *

**Chapter 1**

**Harrowed**

"_**And so is the golden city blackened**_

_**With each step you take in my hall**_

_**Marvel at its perfection, for it is fleeting**_

_**You have brought sin to heaven**_

_**And doom upon all the world"**_

_**~Canticle of threnodies 8:13**_

"Hello? Wake up? Say something please!" The familiar voice of the boy I shared my bunk with, Jowan, echoed through my thoughts, snapping me into a phase of slightly higher consciousness before I realised that I was no longer in the fade.

The fade. The trial that I had been given, the dreaded harrowing. Not so much a test of skill as I had thought, simply a trial of common sense. It had all been to simple, killing a lesser demon, one single demon accompanied by a few Wisps. It was far too easy. Then again, with skill such as mine most things would have been easy. It required not strength, but wit, to realise the so called accomplice that had been helping me was in fact a demon himself. The only annoyance for me was that I didn't get a chance to kill him. He disappeared.

The whining of Jowan once again plagued my thoughts, so I wrenched my eyes open with some force, before cursing lightly and shutting them. The room was too bright. I made a second attempt to open my eyes, this time slower, and at last, I could see without having to squint.

There was Jowan, my not so great friend, forever whining and complaining and basically annoying me, apparently with yet another personal crisis going on. I sighed and gently lowered the duvet off or my body, drawing my legs out from the thick sheet, frowning at the thought that whoever returned me to my bed had not thought to remove my robes. Before I gently raised myself up from the ground, shifting my gaze from Jowan to a pair of females who were talking about me, before drawing it back to Jowan.

"Thank the maker you're awake. They carried you in last night." Jowan sighed, shuffling awkwardly and drawing his hand up to move some of his greasy black hair from his cold grey eyes. "And now you get to move to the nice Mages quarters upstairs and I'm stuck down here." He ranted, obviously oblivious to how little I cared about his trials after being woken up so abruptly.

"I'm sure you will be called any day now Jowan." I reassured him, though it was through gritted teeth. To be honest Jowan was an incompetent mage, he was clumsy, he was lax and above all he was whiney. Whiney mages never got very far. "As soon as you are ready." I added slyly, to hint to him that he had much to learn compared to me, or any of the other mages being taken to the harrowing chamber.

"I have been here longer than you have!" He whined, gesturing with his hands violently in a manner that made me flinch. "I have been ready for a long time. Sometimes I think they don't want to test me." He continued, dragging the conversation on craving for sympathy I was not in the mood to give.

Jowan had never been a good friend. Anders however, had been the best friend I had always dreamed of, the two of us playing constant, juvenile pranks on the accursed Templars, who would obviously punish us with lashings and beatings, yet the fun was worth the small scolding that occurred after. Anders was a promising healer, removing all wounds inflicted afterwards anyway, so beatings were little worry for us. But then he ran away. It was not the first time. He had escaped many times, never allowing me to accompany him, much to my distaste. But he was always dragged back, kicking and screaming, receiving beatings and scolding's but escaping tranquillity each time. He was more against blood magic than the Templars were which is why he had not been branded a maleficar, despite numerous escapes.

Then, the Templars had not caught him, not found him. He was gone. At first I was overjoyed that my friend had escaped, but then I had been hit by sorrow, a sorrow so deep that it made me train more than any other mage, desperate to gain strength enough to escape the tower. It was that drive, which prompted the first enchanter to take me under his wing as his student. Of course, he taught me well, and gave me tomes of arts too complex for most, though I had accepted the challenge with relish. Though I had a particular partiality to the spirit school of magic, focussing on the branches of telekinesis and necromancy. The latter being so commonly mistaken for blood magic I had almost refused it, but on closer inspection, the walking bomb spell was a useful one to have in my arsenal. I had also gone to learn a couple of the spells from the lightning branch of the primal school. My lightning was a force to be reckoned with now.

For further challenge, Irving had taken the liberty of a trip to the Gallows in Kirkwall to obtain some tomes on Force magic on my behalf. Force magic was not an easy specialization to attempt to master, but in all cases, I had tried my uttermost. In all, I had managed to lift an animated suit of armour into the air, then throw it down to the ground again, destroying it with crushing force. It was all fuelled with the memories of Anders of course. But Irving's fatherly had not done anything but help me progress.

In fact the only reason my harrowing was not done months ago was because of a rumour of me being a blood mage. Of course, jealously causes some of the apprentices to go venomous, hating someone for being better than they are, but to actually start such a vile rumour was inexplicable. Fortunately I had Irving to vouch for me, and of course my own distaste of the subject, but my harrowing was held off nonetheless. But finally, the night prior to this day, I had been taken to the harrowing chamber at the top of this tower, and thrust into the fade. Where I was pitted against myself as much as any demon. The Templars had devised a cunning test. Though many who would be smart enough to avoid dealing with a demon, may be naive enough to help a disguised apprentice.

"I see you are daydreaming again." Jowan said from the front of me, where it occurred to me he had been speaking; I had simply not been paying any attention to him. "So much for friendship." He then muttered under his breath, in naivety that I would not actually hear him, but then again, he was unaware that I was no longer daydreaming.

"Excuse me?" I asked, politely but with a slightly malicious undertone to my voice, which I knew would make him squirm. As much as we were so called friends, Jowan was scared of my power. He envied me of course, as did many of the other mages who were not skilled enough to have magic potential like mine.

"I-I shouldn't waste your time." He stammered, nervously shifting his weight from one foot to the other, nervously looking down at his feet. "Irving told me to send you to him when you awoke." He went on, a sentence that peeked my curiosity more than slightly.

"Then I must go see him immediately." I informed him, walking away from him even as he attempted to speak to me. Though Jowan's words usually did not matter more than picking up a dropped stone, let alone when compared to anything Irving would need to say.

* * *

I hurried through the tower with briskness that made some Templars shoot me sullen looks, though I tried to ignore it. Most were just weary of me. Judging from the rumours floating around the apprentice quarters of the tower, I had delivered the best harrowing in years. Though it was to be expected, I had been more than ready for the event.

Irving's office was on the first floor of the tower, which was the floor for all mages and enchanters that the tower accommodated. I was at the office soon, being a familiar route to take, though it became clear when I approached, that the office was not empty.

"We have sent many of our number to Ostagar, Uldred, Wynne; we cannot risk more of our number!" Knight Commander Greagoir shouted at a man whom I had not seen before, a tanned figure, with a rather course, black beard, who was wearing light armour, with a dagger and a blade on holsters at his back.

"Since when have you felt so much kinship with the mages, Greagoir?" Irving chuckled heartily in response, crossing his arms stoically in defiance to the Knight Commander. "Or are you afraid to let the mages out from under Chantry supervision where they can actually use their Maker-given powers?"

"How dare you accuse me of such!" The Knight Commander turned his rage now on the First Enchanter, my mentor. If Greagoir was to try so much as to draw his blade I would have ensured he felt the sting of my lightning. But as such, this did not occur, because the new man in the room turned his attention to me, and silenced the two bickering figures. Whoever this man was, his position was one that demanded respect.

"Gentlemen please!" The man spoke calmly, but with volume and force enough to drown out the other two men. "Irving it looks as though you have company." He then said, in a much softer tone of voice, gesturing to me as I took a small step into the room.

"I could come back later if that is preferable?" I asked, but was silenced quickly, as Irving chuckled lightly, turning to me with the mysterious manner he would use always, something I was desperate to have myself.

"Nonsense young lad. Come in, make yourself comfortable." He beckoned me towards the table next to his desk, where I usually sat when I had conversations with my mentor, he was less strict than you would expect from a first enchanter.

"I will take my leave then." The Knight Commander huffed, storming out of the room, which was accompanied by the heavy clunking from his boots, though I paid it little heed, Greagoir was likely just sulking now that his rant had been stopped.

"Now, I would like you to meet Duncan." Irving said to me with vigour, smiling at something, though you never could tell when Irving was concerned, he had a queer sense of humour. "Duncan is a Grey Warden, he is recruiting for the kings army. Duncan this is Vayn, he is our resident Force mage, the only one in the tower."

"You flatter me first enchanter, I have not quite fully grasped my skills of the telekinesis." I informed the Warden, though it pained me to do so. I always struggled to admit I was not good at something. Though I did have reason, the concentration I needed to muster was hard to obtain.

"I am sure your talents are somewhat magnificent. Though a little humbleness never hurt anyone. But nonetheless a force mage would greatly benefit the ranks of the Kings army at Ostagar." The man known as Duncan told me, though the majority went over my head. It was the first time I had heard any mentioning of a war.

"Duncan you worry the poor lad. This is a day of celebration; do not trouble him with talk of blights." Irving piped up, taking a robe from his desk and presenting it to me. "I present you with your Circle robes, a staff and a ring bearing the circle's mark." He continued, presenting me with a small silver ring, and a large wooden stave that was a similar height to me. Irving simply watched as I removed my current apprentice robes, which were slightly odorous from sleeping with them on, and then donning myself in the new pair of robes. Being yellow and blue in place of blue and violet. Not a particularly large change.

"Now, would you be so kind as to take Duncan to his quarters?" Irving asked, a request that I could not have said no to even if I had wanted to, but did not. Duncan was an interesting man, and I wanted to know all I can about this 'Blight' and 'War' that were apparently upon us.

I stepped out of the room with the older man at my heel, who I then escorted to his room that was on the other side of the floor. We spoke about the Blight, and he informed me about how the darkspawn were forming a great hoard in the Korcari wilds, and that the king was forming an army to combat them. I expressed my desire to join the army, and Duncan agreed that I would be an asset, but we both knew that it was Irving's choice.

Duncan retreated into his quarters, as I headed back to Irving's office to discuss joining the kings army, when a rather familiar Templar strode into the corridor. Cullen. He was the particular Templar who was charged with killing me should I fail the harrowing. He was also a man with a rumoured infatuation with me.

"Cullen." I called softly, walking up to his side, where he turned swiftly and looked at me, with his cute little face. For a Human, he was cute. His hair was blonde and soft, his face was tanned, rugged, yet had a softness too it. If you had to choose one Templar to be merciful, it would be young Cullen.

"Ah… Vayn… I-I want to congratulate you on your harrowing…" He stammered, which was cute. A little blush decorated his cheeks like the glow of a candle on the pages of a book, this occurred every time we would speak, which made the rumour of his affection so much more realistic. Some apprentices had questioned his affection for me, but he would always make an excuse to move on.

It was not unheard of for a Templar to enter a relation with a mage. It was forbidden, but it happened. Most however were simply raping's of those frail pretty ones who would not have the heart to defend themselves. Though some Templars did seek out companionship on a more regular basis, and it was easy to hide. Greagoir was far too sure of his order to pay heed to rumours like that.

Of course, most mages sought out companionship with each other. Anders and I were one such couple. Though I had not been his first. That honour belonged to a mage by the name of Carl. Though they had a falling out over a cat at some point, Carl not liking them and all. It was rather tragic. But then I became Anders' companion. This became more and more frequent in my bed than his. Being above Carl was much more difficult than being below Jowan. In fact, on more than one occasion I was sure I heard Jowan pleasuring himself over the noises coming from myself and Anders. I wondered if all circles were like this, everyone kissing everyone.

"What do you think?" I asked him, doing a small twirl in my new mages robes for the Templar. "I am now a bona-fide mage." I stated proudly to the man, who blushed again, before turning away from me, facing down the corridor from where I was standing.

"I-I should be getting back to…" The man stammered, before he tried walking off, a move which I was anticipating, and was countered by moving my staff in front of him, so that he could not go further than I was allowing him too.

"Why do you supress your affection for me so Cullen?" I asked him, in a demure tone of voice. "Is it because I am a mage? Because I am an Elf? Or because I am a man? The options are endless." I went on to question, gaining a definite thrill from making a Templar squirm so much.

"I… You… My…" Was about all he managed, before I withdrew the Staff from the wall in front of him, which allowed him to scamper off from me, running down the corridor.

"You know where my room is." I shouted after him quickly, before chuckling and moving on to speak with Irving about joining the army. Anything to get out of the tower.

* * *

Irving and I discussed the matter for some time. Well, I say discussed, but Irving actually told me that I could not go to Ostagar, and that I had no choice in the matter. I knew how he could be sometimes, and it was nothing if not stubborn. However, he did ask me a few questions about Jowan, like if I knew where he was, and if I was sure the rumours about him being a blood mage were simply rumours.

Jowan's reputation had also taken a beating from that rumour, but the difference between us was that nobody was jealous of him; he simply snuck about the castle at night. I did not know why, nor did I care. Though I made my views on the matter quite clear, Jowan was not a blood mage. He did not have the skill to conjure a force field, so how was he expected to be able to use ancient magic that brought the world to the edge of ruin.

This conversation also informed me as to why Irving had tomes of blood magic on his desk. They had been in the castle library, somewhere that anyone could have read them, and furthermore, some of the tomes were missing, which indicated that someone was indeed a practiser of blood magic.

Irving then drafted me into another lesson of force magic, him being just as fascinated about the topic as I was, maybe more so. He gave me yet another tome to sift through, and instructed me to head to the library to read through it.

I wandered back through the corridors of the tower before opening the heavy wooden door that lead to the library. The room, as always, smelt slightly musky, and contained a collection of people, the one I recognised the most was the elf who always sat at the same desk, reading books on elven history. I decided to avoid him, he was kind to his kinsman, but he had been rude to Anders on more than one occasion, so I decided not to bother with him.

I moved over to a cluttered desk in a corner of the room, and sat down on the bench, moving the fairly heavy tome up onto it. The tome was bound in thick leather, and a large symbol of what resembled a hand with an arrow in the middle of it was set on the front cover. I moved my porcelain fingers across the cover, and opened the book slowly, flicking through the pages until I found a particular passage that interested me.

_Gravitic Sphere _

_The force mage uses their control over forces to re-direct the gravity in a particular area resulting in a significant reduction in the speed of anybody in the area. This spell can have fruitful effects when used in combination with some other talents in the force magic skill tree, such as pull of the abyss. When these tallents are used in synergy they can generate a vortex with such gravitational force that those affected are unable to find footing, and simply fall to their knees and try to crawl away from the centre of the vortex, though these efforts are in vain. The pull is so great that until the force mage stops the spell, most enemies will be unable to take action, and if they are, it will certainly be at a reduced pace._

I sighed, the knowledge here was on synergies, and the spells in question I had not learnt as of yet. I knew about telekinesis, but not about other realms of magic that were governed by this school. Though the thought of gravitational manipulation greatly exited me. I was yet another step closer to my goal of escaping the circle. Hopefully.

* * *

A sudden crash echoed from below me, disturbing me from the passage i was reading, and I assumed it was only my keen Elven hearing that had managed to pick it up. I knew that crashes were never a sign of a good thing, so I closed the tome, and walked purposely towards Irving's office. Even though it could have simply been a table falling over, one could never be too careful, especially with blood magic about.

I knocked firmly on the door to Irving's office, which was shut, before I knocked again. There was no answer. I gently eased the handle of the door open, before walking into the room, my too big staff clumsily caching on the stone frame of the doorway. Sometimes I wish mages had smaller objects to cast spells with. Why use the branch of a tree If it would be possible to use a twig.

The office was empty, which was unusual, the day was still young, and Irving did not have any other students, bar one or two who were at Ostagar. I sighed and moved to turn away, before a voice came from behind me, one that was getting all too familiar for my ears.

"Excuse me? Do you know where Irving is?" He asked, and as I turned to face him, Duncan smiled and laughed. "Ah, we meet again young Vayn." He chuckled, before his face turned more serious, awaiting an answer. He was a strange human.

"I do not know where Irving is, but I also wish to see him. Maybe we should check downstairs?" I reported, realising Irving could easily have heard the noise himself and gone to investigate, his hearing was not as bad as most humans, better still when you considered his age.

"Ah yes, well lead on then." Duncan said once again, gesturing me to lead him downstairs, I was guessing he was still unsure about the towers layout, or he was just very nervous about being alone in a tower filled with mages. Most likely the latter.

We moved downstairs quickly and Duncan and I were nearing the apprentice quarters when we heard it, the unmistakeable sound of armour clanging against the stone floor, but when we ran into the corridor to see what was going on, the outcome could not have been worse.

The First enchanter, the Knight commander, and two Templars were on the floor, all of them surrounded with a crimson aura. There was a frightened Chantry priest cowering away from a man. A man with a blood stained knife in one hand, his other hand dripping with fresh blood. I knew this man. This was Jowan.

So the rumours were true, Jowan was indeed a blood mage. I was shocked at first. I was actually baffled by how Jowan could be a blood mage strong enough to take out three Templars and the First enchanter so easily. But the sound of Duncan drawing his blade snapped me from my trance.

I dropped my staff to the floor with a clunk, and I ran forward into the room. Jowan was not much of a friend to me anyway. But even had he been, I no longer saw him as Jowan, he was simply a blood mage. He noticed me immediately, and looked at me with a pain ridden expression. But he was an utter fool if he thought I would deliver sympathy to him.

I swung my arms together, pressing them at the wrists to launch a cascade of lightning towards him, which he deftly avoided, before pleading with me once more, but I was having none of it. I broke my hands apart and built up a singular lightning bolt, before shooting it in his direction, causing enough of a distraction to reach out with my telekinetic grip, reaching up to him and lifting him into the air, only to slam his frail little body down onto the floor. I smiled for a brief few moments, before a sudden movement from his body in my direction caught me on alert, but now I was at his mercy.

I felt my body stiffen, as if he was holding every inch of me, before I realised I could no longer move. I felt myself turn towards Duncan, who was looking with worry, before my left arm swung out in his direction, knocking him against the wall with a wave of force. I then began moving towards the nearest wall, which was coming too close to me. I grunted as my face connected with the stone. Blood gushing out of my nose as my limbs grew light again, and I tumbled to the floor, as the sound of footsteps fleeing drew to my attention how cowardly blood magic was. If I ever saw that boy again, I would destroy him. Utterly.

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**I hope you enjoyed it, and i hope you would be so kind as to leave a review. **


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